Day
by day and season by season, our local NFL organization is starting to
resemble the aimless, pointless, playoffs-less way Oakland meandered
along as Al Davis grew older and (How do we put this delicately?) more
eccentric.

Since Davis is no longer with us and Oakland has begun
to make sensible management and personnel decisions, the Titans have
replaced the Raiders as the NFL punch line du jour. And Bud Adams, at
age 90 and three years removed from his notorious double-finger salute
at LP Field, has replaced Davis as the league's (Delicately, please)
most eccentric owner.

Granted, Bud does not meddle in daily
operations like he once did. But he still makes the call on big-ticket
decisions like hiring Mike Munchak as coach two years ago and retaining
him after a 6-10 season that included six losses by three touchdowns or
more.

The uneven oversight of the organization was highlighted
earlier this week by Bud's decision to fire Mike Reinfeldt. Our Titans
beat writer Jim Wyatt believes the root of Bud's displeasure with
Reinfeldt is based on the pursuit - or lack of serious pursuit - of
Peyton Manning back in May.

It seems that Reinfeldt is perceived
as not acquiescing immediately and completely to Bud's desire to do
whatever it took to convince Manning he should sign with the Titans.

When
Manning ended up in Denver, Bud held a grudge. The depth of that grudge
boiled to the surface on Monday when Reinfeldt was fired, less than a
year after he was elevated from general manager to senior executive vice
president/chief operating officer.

Here's a thought: If Bud was
so upset with Reinfeldt over any bungling of the Manning matter, why did
he wait 10 months to show his displeasure? He should've fired him on
the spot for insubordination.

Look, I was never Reinfeldt's
biggest fan but he's just another scapegoat here. It's no different than
when Mike Munchak fired offensive coordinator Chris Palmer with five
games left in the season. Palmer may not have been the solution, but he
certainly wasn't the problem.

Likewise, Reinfeldt is getting
blamed for circumstances beyond his control. While he may not have
jumped to action quickly enough to suit Bud, the bottom line is Manning
was never going to sign with the Titans. Manning identified a much
better situation in Denver, where he immediately connected with Broncos
executive John Elway, a Hall of Fame quarterback.

Would the Titans
have been a better team with Manning this season? Absolutely. But would
Manning be quarterbacking a team that has won 11 straight games and has
home-field advantage throughout the playoffs if he had signed with the
Titans? No. The team has too many holes.

While we're at it, don't
blame Reinfeldt for the Titans' spotty drafts since his arrival in 2007.
In the first four drafts on his watch, then-Coach Jeff Fisher had the
final word on personnel matters, including draft picks. It was Fisher
that coveted second-round pick Chris Henry and third-rounder Paul
Williams in '07 and third-round pick Rennie Curran in '10, among others.

After
Fisher left town, Reinfeldt ran his own draft board in 2011 and scored
four current starters with the first four picks that year. Ruston
Webster took over last year's draft after Reinfeldt was kicked upstairs.

But
back to the current state of Titans management: Is this a
billion-dollar NFL enterprise or a mom & pop shop? With only two
playoff appearances in the last nine years, this is an organization in
sore need of new ideas and fresh blood. Promoting familiar faces from
within does not prompt change.

As the Titans are relegated to the
role of spectators for the fourth consecutive postseason, we are left to
wonder if things are going to get significantly better anytime soon.
Based on the current state of the program, the best characteristic a
Titans fan can have is patience.